KIWAZU – a book for children who are victims of violence

The ALTERNATIVES Service of the Pro Familia Foundation is a counselling centre for children and adolescents who are victims of violence. It offers psychological and therapeutic counselling to children, adolescents and their families, enabling them to express their experiences and feelings in a safe environment and helping them to build respectful family relationships.

In this context, the Alternatives Service, with the support of the Œuvre Grande Duchesse Charlotte and the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity, has published two awareness-raising booklets, one for children and one for adults:

« Kiwazu – ein Chamäleon voller Ideen. Ein Buch über häusliche Gewalt » tells the story of a chameleon, which is characterised by its ability to camouflage itself, to change colour depending on its well-being and to share its experiences of domestic violence. Through the different parts of this story, and thanks to psycho-educational methods that directly involve the child, the story invites us to reflect together on different aspects of the emotional experience of violence (experience of stress, physical reactions, distress, etc.) and to develop personalised coping strategies (seeking support, (re-)activating protective resources).

“Domestic violence – the children’s perspective” supports adults (parents and professionals working in the field of domestic violence) by providing psycho-education on the impact of domestic violence on children’s development, the needs of the child that may be neglected in the context of domestic violence, as well as ways to respond, support and prevent.